A Realization

     The room had grown even darker by the time Yuka awoke from her slumber and was met by a sudden ringing in her ears.  "What's going on?"  She thought.  For a few minutes she contemplated what had changed, then it came to her.  She reached up and touched her head, where she remembered the blood.  There was no blood now, but she winced.

     "I am an idiot.  No wonder I've been so tired lately, no wonder I've been dizzy.  But why have I lost all of my memories and not just a few?"  She decided to bring this up with Hrafen as soon as possible.  She looked around and the stick she was using rested on the wall next to her bed.

     She was also reminded of her broken rib and leg when she got out of bed but just pushed through it.  She took the time to change into new clothes since hers were torn, then she left the room.  Just to have her face drift to confusion, a hallway of rooms presenting itself.  "Oh yeah, I never really got to pay attention to anything as Hrafen was too busy rushing me to bed so he could do his 'important stuff'", she thought with an eye roll.  "He had better tell me everything later."

     She was about to just explore now, but her stomach rumbled, making her remember the rune on her arm.  "Do I still need this dumb thing? I guess I should get something to eat first.  Didn't Hrafen say he'd have something ready?"  She quickly checked each room, or at least as quickly as she could with a broken leg.  Then she found Hrafen, who was sitting in a chair.

     He waved at her, then stood up from the chair and gestured to a table to her left. She nodded and he helped her over to it, where she found some paper and ink already set up. Hrafen brought up chairs for them, sat down, and immediately began writing.

     "Wasn't sure when you'd wake. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah."

     "I did prepare some food, but you'll have to make do with some plants."

     "Okay, thank you for taking the time to do that for me." She did wonder how plants could be in a place without light, but she was knew nothing about plants, so she shrugged it off.

     "It's no big deal.  You've been through so much as is, may as well help the most I can."

     "That's very kind of you.  So, why are you treating me better anyhow?  Asking did nothing, so I demand to know now."

     He shrugged.  "We trust you now."

     "We?"

     "Corba and I."

     As if called, the bird suddenly flew in and landed on the table, making Yuka jump.

     "I keep forgetting about him", Yuka wrote. "By the way, I sure hope you plan on telling me everything you're hiding later."

"I will, but it's too dangerous to now. When your injuries are healed, sure."

"Dangerous?"

     Hrafen laughed.  "Anyways, eat."

     It took a little while for her to eat, the plants stale in her mouth. After she was finished, he was about to continue writing, but Yuka grabbed his arm. She motioned to the paper and he handed it to her.

"I forgot this yesterday, but my memories may be gone due to a concussion. I had a head wound when I woke up. But that still doesn't explain why a large number of my memories are gone."

She saw his eyes spark with realization as he took the paper. "It's from the runes! I did say you had a fragile soul. But what if your broken soul never caused your memory loss, only enhanced it? Your soul is tied to your well-being after all. Though I don't know if your soul would fix itself after you've recovered."

"So there's a different cause, but I still have to fix my soul?"

He nodded his head.

"So why don't we just get to that village as soon as we can then?"

He glanced towards one of the walls before he wrote, "they are still outside, they will be all night."

Yuka frowned. "That sucks."

"Yeah, well there's nothing we can do about it but wait."

Her face drooped. "I just want to get my memory back as soon as I can. What if your friend doesn't know anything? I don't wanna stay like this forever."

"If she doesn't know anything, then we can just find someone else. I already have a few other people in mind to ask."

She sighed. "Okay. I am counting on you. What do we do now though?"

"No clue." He thought for a moment. "I probably should rest for the night. You can do whatever." He got up from the table, gave her a quick wave, then left the room.

"Well that was sudden", she thought. Corba followed shortly after, sailing out of the room. Yuka sighed, then got up. She slowly made her way back to her room to lay down on her bed, She rested her stick on the wall. Finally, her mind allowed her to drift into new thoughts she'd been too busy to notice.

"What is even going on? Everything is so confusing. What is Hrafen keeping from me? I doubt it is anything good. This forest shouldn't even be possible, so why is it? It seems like so much yet so little is going on around me, that it is disorienting. How am I gonna fix my soul if nobody knows how to?" Her eyes began to water. "What if it never does? What if I can't even get my memory back? Who even am I if I don't?"

Her breathing became jagged. "I mean it isn't like anyone else has lived with a broke soul before. As far as I know, my memories could still be gone even after I've recovered. What happens then?"

A half an hour passed until she eventually wept herself to a peaceful sleep.